Final Facts
F e m a l e Firsts
In 1933, Frances Perkins joins President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s cabinet as the
In honor of the 19th Amendment, take a glance at these other female firsts.
U.S. Secretary of Labor. The appointment marked the first time a woman was asked to serve in a
U.S. Cabinet position.
On January 23, 1849, ELIZABETH BLACKWELL graduates from New York’s Geneva Medical School, making her the first woman to earn a M E D I C A L D E G R E E in the U.S.
In 1865, Mary Edwards Walker becomes the first woman to receive the
MARGARET ABBOTT
M E DA L OF H ON OR .
the first American woman to win an Olympic event, finishes first in the
Still the only woman to receive the honor, she was recognized for her work as a surgeon during the American Civil War.
women’s golf tournament at the
Janet Guthrie races into the history books in 1978
1900 Paris Olympic Games.
when she becomes the first woman to drive a car in the INDI ANAPOLI S 500.
Anna Sutherland
Bissell takes over the EXECUTIVE BOARD of the famous
Bissell vacuum company in 1889 and becomes the first American woman to serve in a CEO role.
The Queen of Soul,
Aretha Franklin, earns some R-E-S-P-E-C-T on January 3, 1987 when she takes the title of FIRST WOMAN elected to the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
